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ATLANTA, July 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The Home Depot^®, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, reduced Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by more than 127,000 metric tons in 2020—a 22 percent reduction in carbon intensity—while at the same time growing the business nearly 20 percent. The company announced a goal to reach 100 percent renewable electricity for its facilities by 2030, further extending its efforts to improve the environment through cleaner energy.

The Home Depot also joined the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to reduce global emissions, committing to set goals for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2023. These updates and additional goals were released in its 2021 ESG Report outlining the company’s environmental, social and governance initiatives and progress made in 2020.

“Our commitment to reducing our impact on the planet, taking care of our people, and building strong, sustainable communities is foundational to who we are,” said Craig Menear, chairman and CEO of The Home Depot. “More than 40 years ago, our founders gave us eight core values that continue to guide our business today. The progress we made in 2020 demonstrates the commitment of our associates and suppliers to these values, as they prioritized taking care of our associates, customers and communities, as well as the environment, while navigating a year unlike any other.”

The Home Depot’s corporate responsibility strategy is organized around three pillars: focusing on its people, operating sustainably and strengthening communities.

Focusing on Its People

The Home Depot is committed to taking care of its people and furthering efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. In 2020, its U.S. hires were 35 percent female and 53 percent ethnically and racially diverse. The company was recently recognized as one of Forbes’ Best Employers for Diversity.

The company enhanced its 20-year diversity and inclusion initiative, elevating the Chief Diversity Officer role, growing its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) program and setting a goal to expand associate resource groups.

In fiscal 2020, the company paid approximately $2 billion in enhanced pay and benefits to front-line, hourly associates in response to COVID-19. It also paid $616 million in record success-sharing bonus payments to non-management associates.

Operating Sustainably

As part of its existing pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2035, the company reduced its Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by more than 127,000 metric tons in 2020. It accomplished this by driving efficiencies and investing in green energy.

The Home Depot reduced U.S. store electricity consumption by 44 percent from 2010 to 2020. In 2020 alone, electricity use in U.S. stores fell more than 14 percent due to the installation of LED lighting, the use of building-automation systems and the addition of energy-efficient heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems.

The company also continues to make progress toward its goal to remove expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) film from private-brand packaging by 2023, replacing these products with innovative recyclable materials.

Strengthening Communities

Throughout 2020, The Home Depot continued to prioritize taking care of the communities where it operates. It contributed more than $50 million in funds and supplies to support communities impacted by COVID-19, including nearly 3.4 million N95 masks to help front-line healthcare workers nationwide.

The company also crossed a milestone of investing more than $35 million since 2017 in organizations working to improve social equity and announced a commitment to double its investment in the Retool Your School program benefiting historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to a million dollars annually.

In 2020, The Home Depot spent $3.2 billion with diverse suppliers and announced it is creating a program to encourage suppliers to increase their business with diverse suppliers, expanding the company’s downstream impact with diverse organizations nationwide.

The Home Depot Foundation continues its work to serve veterans, train tradespeople and respond to communities impacted by natural disasters. In fiscal 2020, the foundation reached the $350 million mark on the way to its pledge of half a billion dollars to veteran causes by 2025. As part of its commitment to train 20,000 tradesmen and women by 2028 and invest $50 million to fill the skilled labor gap, the foundation has trained 15,000 tradesmen and women and certified 5,000 since 2018.

In 2020, it also committed $4 million to communities impacted by natural disasters.

To read The Home Depot’s 2021 ESG Report visit https://thd.co/2021ESGReport.

About The Home Depot

The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer. The Company operates a total of 2,298 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. In fiscal 2020, The Home Depot had sales of $132.1 billion and earnings of $12.9 billion. The company employs approximately 500,000 associates. The Home Depot’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index.

Certain statements contained herein constitute “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may relate to, among other things, our goals, commitments and programs and projections of future results; the impact on our business, operations and financial results of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related recovery; our business plans, strategies, initiatives and objectives and their expected execution and impact; management of relationships with our associates, suppliers and vendors; and our assumptions and expectations regarding any of the foregoing. Forward-looking statements are based on currently available information and our current assumptions, expectations and projections about future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to future events, risks and uncertainties – many of which are beyond our control, dependent on the actions of third parties, or currently unknown to us – as well as potentially inaccurate assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those described in Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” and elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for our fiscal year ended January 31, 2021 and in our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update these statements other than as required by law. You are advised, however, to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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SOURCE The Home Depot

ATLANTA, July 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ —

Second Quarter Financial Highlights

• Total Revenues of $467.5 Million, an 8.5% Increase
• Same Store Revenues Increased 11.2%; E-commerce Revenues Increased 15.8%
• Net Income of $33.0 Million, a 47.4% Increase; Adjusted EBITDA of $65.3 Million, a 16.3% Increase
• Diluted EPS of $0.95, a 43.9% Increase; Non-GAAP Diluted EPS of $1.05, a 26.5% Increase
• Returned $42.0 Million to Shareholders Through Share Repurchases And Dividends

The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE: AAN), a leading, technology-enabled, omnichannel provider of lease-to-own and purchase solutions, today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021.

“We are pleased to announce another quarter of strong operating results, a significant return of capital to shareholders, and an increase in our revenue and earnings outlook for the full year 2021,” said Douglas Lindsay, Chief Executive Officer of The Aaron’s Company.

“Robust demand for our products, continued strength in customer payments, and ongoing execution of our strategic initiatives have led to a larger lease portfolio generating higher revenues, double-digit earnings growth and strong free cash flow. Our continued investments in customer-focused decisioning technology, digital payment and servicing platforms, and both in-store and online shopping experiences are yielding positive results and are collectively driving greater productivity and margin expansion.”

Results of Operations – Second Quarter 2021

For the second quarter of 2021, total revenues were $467.5 million compared with $431.0 million for the second quarter of 2020, an increase of 8.5%. The increase in revenues was primarily due to the improving size and quality of our lease portfolio and strong customer payment activity during the quarter, partially offset by the planned net reduction of 42 company-operated stores during the 15-month period ended June 30, 2021. E-commerce revenues were up 15.8% compared to the prior year quarter and represented 14.0% of lease revenues compared to 12.8% in the prior year quarter.

On a same store basis, lease and retail revenues increased 11.2% in the second quarter compared to the prior year quarter. Same store revenue growth was primarily driven by a larger same store lease portfolio size to begin the quarter, growth in the portfolio during the second quarter, and strong customer payment activity.

Net earnings for the second quarter of 2021 were $33.0 million compared to $22.4 million in the prior year period. Net earnings in the second quarter of 2021 included $1.8 million in pre-tax restructuring charges and $1.2 million in pre-tax spin-related separation charges. Net earnings in the second quarter of 2020 included $7.0 million in pre-tax restructuring charges.

Adjusted EBITDA for the Company was $65.3 million for the second quarter of 2021, compared with $56.2 million for the same period in 2020, an increase of $9.1 million, or 16.3%. As a percentage of revenues, Adjusted EBITDA was 14.0% in the second quarter of 2021 compared with 13.0% for the same period in 2020, an improvement of 100 basis points. The improvement in Adjusted EBITDA margin was primarily due to the items described above related to the revenue increase and an 80 basis point reduction in lease merchandise write-offs, partially offset by incremental public company costs and a return to more normalized levels of operating expenses compared to the second quarter of 2020, a period that included store shutdowns, employment furloughs, curtailment of marketing activities, franchisee royalty abatement, and other short-term actions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Diluted earnings per share for the second quarter of 2021 were $0.95 compared with diluted earnings per share of $0.66 in the year ago same period. On a non-GAAP basis, diluted earnings per share were $1.05 in the second quarter of 2021 compared with non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.83 for the same quarter in 2020, an increase of $0.22 or 26.5%.

During the second quarter, the Company repurchased 1,166,010 shares of Aaron’s common stock for a total purchase price, including brokerage commissions, of approximately $38.6 million. For the year-to-date period through July 23, 2021, the company repurchased 1,839,313 shares of Aaron’s common stock for a total purchase price, including brokerage commissions, of approximately $57.4 million. As of July 23, 2021, the Company had approximately $92.6 million remaining under its $150 million share repurchase program.

During the quarter, the Company’s board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 per share which was paid on July 6, 2021.

As of June 30, 2021, the company had a cash balance of $48.0 million, no debt, and total available liquidity of $281.5 million including availability under the Company’s existing revolving credit facility.

Franchise Performance

Franchisee revenues totaled $82.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2021, a decrease of 20.9% from the three months ended June 30, 2020 primarily due to a reduction in franchise locations. Same store revenues for franchised stores increased 1.9% for the three months ended June 30, 2021 compared with the same quarter in 2020. Revenues and customers of franchisees are not revenues and customers of the Company.

2021 Outlook

The Company has revised its full year 2021 outlook. For the full year 2021, we increased our expected total revenues to between $1.775 billion and $1.800 billion.  We also increased our expected Adjusted EBITDA to between $215 million and $225 million.

For the full year 2021 updated outlook, we have assumed an effective tax rate for 2021 of approximately 26%, depreciation and amortization of between $70 million and $75 million, and a diluted weighted average share count of approximately 34 million shares. This outlook assumes no significant deterioration in the current retail environment, state of the U.S. economy, or global supply chain, as compared to its current condition.

Basis of Presentation

The financial statements and related results discussed herein for periods prior to and through the date of the separation and distribution, November 30, 2020, were prepared on a combined standalone basis and were derived from the consolidated financial statements and accounting records of PROG Holdings, Inc. The financial statements for the periods subsequent to December 1, 2020 and through June 30, 2021 are consolidated financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries, each of which is wholly-owned, and is based on the financial position and results of operations of the Company as a standalone company.

The combined financial statements prepared through November 30, 2020 include all revenues and costs directly attributable to the Company and an allocation of expenses from PROG Holdings, Inc. related to certain corporate functions and actions. These costs include executive management, finance, treasury, tax, audit, legal, information technology, human resources and risk management functions and the related benefit cost associated with such functions, including stock-based compensation. These expenses have been allocated to the Company based on direct usage or benefit where specifically identifiable, with the remaining expenses allocated primarily on a pro rata basis using an applicable measure of revenues, headcount or other relevant measures.

Conference Call and Webcast

The Company will hold a conference call to discuss its quarterly results on July 27, 2021, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The public is invited to listen to the conference call by webcast accessible through the Company’s investor relations website, investor.aarons.com. The webcast will be archived for playback at that same site.

About The Aaron’s Company Inc.

Headquartered in Atlanta, The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE: AAN), is a leading, technology-enabled, omnichannel provider of lease-to-own and purchase solutions.  The Aaron’s Company engages in the sales and lease ownership and specialty retailing of furniture, appliances, consumer electronics and accessories through its approximately 1,300 Company-operated and franchised stores in 47 states and Canada, as well as its e-commerce platform, Aarons.com. For more information, visit investor.aarons.com and Aarons.com.

Forward-Looking Statements


Statements in this news release regarding our business that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements.  Such forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as “remain,” “believe,” “outlook,” “expect,” “assume,” “assumed,” and similar terminology.  These risks and uncertainties include factors such as (i) any ongoing  impact of the COVID-19 pandemic due to new variants or the efficacy and rate of vaccinations and related measures taken by governmental or regulatory authorities to combat the pandemic, including whether additional government stimulus payments or supplemental unemployment benefits will be approved, and the nature, amount and timing of any such payments or benefits,  (ii)  the possibility that the operational, strategic and shareholder value creation opportunities expected from the separation and spin-off of the Aaron’s Business into what is now The Aaron’s Company, Inc. may not be achieved in a timely manner, or at all; (iii) the failure of that separation to qualify for the expected tax treatment; (iv) changes in the enforcement and interpretation of existing laws and regulations and the adoption of new laws and regulations that may unfavorably impact our business; (v) legal and regulatory proceedings and investigations, including those related to consumer protection laws and regulations, customer privacy, third party and employee fraud and information security; (vi) the risks associated with our strategy and strategic priorities not being successful, including our e-commerce and real estate repositioning and optimization initiatives or being more costly than anticipated; (vii) risks associated with the challenges faced by our business, including the commoditization of consumer electronics and our high fixed-cost operating model; (viii) increased competition from traditional and virtual lease-to-own competitors, as well as from traditional and online retailers and other competitors; (ix) financial challenges faced by our franchisees, (x) increases in lease merchandise write-offs, and the potential limited duration and impact of stimulus and other government payments made by Federal and State governments to counteract the economic impact of the pandemic; and the other risks and uncertainties discussed under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. Statements in this press release that are “forward-looking” include without limitation statements about:  (i) the execution of our key strategic priorities; (ii) the growth and other benefits we expect from executing those priorities; (iii) our 2021 financial performance outlook; and (iv) the impact on our 2021 financial performance of additional rounds of government stimulus payments.  You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances after the date of this press release.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information:
Non-GAAP net earnings, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share, EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are supplemental measures of our performance that are not calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”).  Non-GAAP net earnings and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for 2021 exclude certain charges including amortization expense resulting from franchisee acquisitions, restructuring charges, and separation costs associated with the separation and distribution transaction that resulted in our spin-off into a separate publicly-traded company. Non-GAAP net earnings and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for 2020 exclude certain charges including amortization expense resulting from franchisee acquisitions, early termination charges incurred to terminate a sales and marketing agreement, goodwill impairment charges, restructuring charges, and an income tax benefit resulting from the revaluation of a net operating loss carryback. The amounts for these pre-tax non-GAAP adjustments, which are tax-effected using estimated tax rates which are commensurate with non-GAAP pre-tax earnings, can be found in the Reconciliation of Earnings (Loss) Before Income Taxes and Earnings (Loss) Per Share Assuming Dilution to Non-GAAP Net Earnings and Non-GAAP Earnings Per Share Assuming Dilution table in this press release.

The EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA figures presented in this press release are calculated as the Company’s earnings before interest expense, depreciation on property, plant and equipment, amortization of intangible assets and income taxes.  Adjusted EBITDA also excludes the other adjustments described in the calculation of non-GAAP net earnings above. The amounts for these pre-tax non-GAAP adjustments can be found in the Quarterly EBITDA tables in this press release.

Management believes that non-GAAP net earnings, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA provide relevant and useful information, and are widely used by analysts, investors and competitors in our industry as well as by our management in assessing both consolidated and business unit performance.

Non-GAAP net earnings and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share provide management and investors with an understanding of the results from the primary operations of our business by excluding the effects of certain items that generally arose from larger, one-time transactions that are not reflective of the ordinary earnings activity of our operations or transactions that have variability and volatility of the amount.  This measure may be useful to an investor in evaluating the underlying operating performance of our business.

EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA also provide management and investors with an understanding of one aspect of earnings before the impact of investing and financing charges and income taxes.  These measures may be useful to an investor in evaluating our operating performance and liquidity because the measures:

• Are widely used by investors to measure a company’s operating performance without regard to items excluded from the calculation of such measure, which can vary substantially from company to company depending upon accounting methods, book value of assets, capital structure and the method by which assets were acquired, among other factors.
• Are a financial measurement that is used by rating agencies, lenders and other parties to evaluate our creditworthiness.
• Are used by our management for various purposes, including as a measure of performance of our operating entities and as a basis for strategic planning and forecasting.

The Free Cash Flow figures presented in this press release are calculated as the Company’s cash flows provided by operating activities less capital expenditures. Management believes that Free Cash Flow is an important measure of liquidity provides relevant and useful information, and are widely used by analysts, investors and competitors in our industry as well as by our management in assessing liquidity.

Non-GAAP financial measures, however, should not be used as a substitute for, or considered superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP, such as the Company’s GAAP basis net earnings and diluted earnings per share, the Company’s GAAP revenues and earnings before income taxes and GAAP cash from operating activities, which are also presented in the press release.  Further, we caution investors that amounts presented in accordance with our definitions of non-GAAP net earnings, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by other companies, because not all companies and analysts calculate these measures in the same manner.

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SOURCE The Aaron’s Company, Inc.

NEW YORK, July 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE: SSTK), a leading global creative platform offering full-service solutions, high-quality content, and tools for brands, businesses and media companies, today announced the launch of Shutterstock.AI, a newly formed subsidiary with insights and data at the heart of its mission. Additionally, the newly established Shutterstock.AI has acquired three leading AI platforms, Pattern89, Datasine, and Shotzr.

With these three acquisitions, Shutterstock.AI will continue to rapidly develop its own predictive performance capabilities to help creatives and customers accomplish their goals by making more data-informed content decisions.

In the near term, Shutterstock.AI will commercialize data assets within Shutterstock’s immense content library, which includes over 400 million images, videos, music tracks, and 3D models, as well as partner with innovative companies to grow their capabilities in computer vision and content insights to power the next generation of AI models.

“With these three acquisitions, Shutterstock.AI will help our customers globally solve the biggest creative challenge they have — discovering and selecting the right content that is relevant, and that resonates with audiences. We want our customers to create with confidence,” said Stan Pavlovsky, Chief Executive Officer at Shutterstock. “To complement this, Shutterstock.AI will also help new customer segments accelerate the development of artificial intelligence, by unlocking the power of the data associated with our vast content library. From autonomous vehicles, to content moderation, to AI powered process automation, Shutterstock.AI’s high quality data and services will enable companies to develop the next generation of technologies.” 

Shutterstock.AI sees the future of creativity through the lens of performance, as the engine that will transform customers’ ideas into accomplishments. With the acquisition of these three creative AI companies, and the creation of Shutterstock.AI, Shutterstock is redefining what creativity means, and helping solve our customers’ problems by expertly navigating the availability of content. Looking ahead, Shutterstock.AI will develop predictive creative AI models, leveraging cutting edge technology to help customers make more informed content choices, providing more confidence about the performance of what they produce.

About the Acquired Companies:

Pattern89: Pattern89 provides industry-level and custom insights for predictive performance at scale. Utilizing these insights allows marketers, agencies and creatives to make the right decisions — down to colors, copy and even emojis — without having to live A/B test. Pattern89’s sophisticated workflow allows real time monitoring of campaign performance, as well as one-click optimization. www.pattern89.com

Datasine: Datasine’s AI provides the insights and acumen for campaign decision-making. Their team of data scientists and psychologists have created algorithms that analyze the creative elements of an ad better than humans. The company’s artificial intelligence reviews past campaign performance of digital assets and provides recommendations for optimizing their performance. www.datasine.com   

Shotzr: Shotzr uses human responsiveness to imagery, applying insights to any image for predictive analysis to ensure customers select the right image for social media and digital campaigns that will resonate with audiences. www.shotzr.com

The aggregate cash consideration paid for Pattern89, Datasine, and Shotzr was approximately $35 million. Shutterstock will provide additional detail during its second quarter earnings call on July 27th, 2021.

For more information, please visit www.shutterstock.AI.

About Shutterstock
Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE: SSTK), is a leading global creative platform offering full-service solutions, high-quality content, and tools for brands, businesses and media companies. Directly and through its group subsidiaries, Shutterstock’s comprehensive collection includes high-quality licensed photographs, vectors, illustrations, videos, 3D models and music. Working with its growing community of over 1.8 million contributors, Shutterstock adds hundreds of thousands of images each week, and currently has more than 380 million images and more than 22 million video clips available.

Headquartered in New York City, Shutterstock has offices around the world and customers in more than 150 countries. The Company also owns Offset, a high-end image collection; Shutterstock Studios, an end-to-end custom creative shop; PremiumBeat, a curated royalty-free music library; Shutterstock Editorial, a premier source of editorial images and videos for the world’s media; TurboSquid, a leading 3D content marketplace; Amper Music, an AI-driven music platform; and Bigstock, a value-oriented stock media offering.

For more information, please visit www.shutterstock.com and follow Shutterstock on Twitter and on Facebook.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding management’s future business, future results of operations or financial condition, including new or planned features, products or services, management strategies, Shutterstock’s expectations regarding financial outlook and future growth and profitability, statements regarding anticipated effects of the Company’s acquisition of Pattern89, Datasine, and Shotzr and statements regarding anticipated improvements in operations. You can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “may,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “opportunities” and other similar expressions. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors including risks related to any changes to or the effects on liabilities, financial condition, future capital expenditures, revenue, expenses, net income or loss, synergies and future prospects; our inability to continue to attract and retain customers and contributors to our online marketplace for creative content; competitive factors; our inability to innovate technologically or develop, market and offer new products and services; costs related to litigation or infringement claims, indemnification claims and the inability to prevent misuse of our content; our inability to increase market awareness of Shutterstock and our products and services; our inability to effectively manage our growth; our inability to grow at historic growth rates or at all; technological interruptions that impair access to our websites; assertions by third parties of infringement of intellectual property rights by Shutterstock, our inability to effectively manage risks associated with operating internationally; our exposure to foreign exchange rate risk; our inability to address risks associated with sales to large corporate customers; government regulation of the internet; increasing regulation related to the handling of personal data; actions by governments to restrict access to our products and services; our inability to effectively expand our operations into new products, services and technologies; our inability to protect the confidential information of customers; increased tax liabilities associated with our worldwide operations, including our exposure to withholding, sales and transaction tax liabilities; the effect of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017; public health crises including the COVID-19 pandemic; general economic and political conditions worldwide, including disruption and volatility caused by COVID-19 and any resulting economic recession; our inability to successfully integrate acquisitions and the associated technology and achieve operational efficiencies; and other factors and risks discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as in other documents that the Company may file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result of such risks, uncertainties and factors, Shutterstock’s actual results may differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements discussed in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made only as of this date and Shutterstock assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

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SOURCE Shutterstock, Inc.

TARRYTOWN, N.Y., July 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) and AstraZeneca today announced that the companies have entered into a collaboration to research, develop and commercialize small molecule compounds directed against the GPR75 target with the potential to treat obesity and related co-morbidities. The collaboration builds on the recent discovery from the Regeneron Genetics Center^® of rare genetic mutations in the GPR75 gene associated with protection against obesity and on early joint research initiated soon after discovery of the target so that potential treatments can be developed as quickly as possible. The companies will evenly split research and development costs and share equally in any future potential profits.

As published in Science, the new target was found by sequencing nearly 650,000 people and identifying individuals with rare protective mutations. Individuals with at least one inactive copy of the GPR75 gene had lower BMI and, on average, tended to weigh about 12 pounds less and faced a 54% lower risk of obesity than those without the mutation. Strong associations were also seen with improvements in diabetes parameters, including glucose lowering. Obesity and insulin resistance are key drivers in the development of type 2 diabetes and often lead to cardiorenal complications, as well as liver disease.

“The next era of medicine is being fueled by important genetics findings that direct drug developers on how to deploy our toolkit of biologics, small molecules and gene editing technologies in order to safely help patients in need,” said George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron. “As experts on genetics and human biology, Regeneron is excited to join forces with the chemistry and small molecule leaders at AstraZeneca, as we seek to develop new medicines tackling the harmful and costly obesity epidemic.”

“We are pleased to announce this important collaboration with Regeneron to identify small molecule modulators against GPR75, a newly identified target with genetic validation in metabolic disorders. Obesity and insulin resistance remain key drivers in the development of type 2 diabetes and areas of significant unmet medical need,” said Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice President, BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca.

Obesity is associated with many serious health complications and drives organ dysfunction, including in the heart, liver, kidneys and pancreas. Worldwide the prevalence of obesity has more than tripled since 1975, and approximately 650 million adults are estimated to live with obesity today.

About Regeneron
Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN) is a leading biotechnology company that invents life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases. Founded and led for over 30 years by physician-scientists, our unique ability to repeatedly and consistently translate science into medicine has led to nine FDA-approved treatments and numerous product candidates in development, almost all of which were homegrown in our laboratories. Our medicines and pipeline are designed to help patients with eye diseases, allergic and inflammatory diseases, cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, pain, hematologic conditions, infectious diseases and rare diseases.

Regeneron is accelerating and improving the traditional drug development process through our proprietary VelociSuite^® technologies, such as VelocImmune^®, which uses unique genetically humanized mice to produce optimized fully human antibodies and bispecific antibodies, and through ambitious research initiatives such as the Regeneron Genetics Center, which is conducting one of the largest genetics sequencing efforts in the world.

For additional information about the company, please visit www.regeneron.com or follow @Regeneron on Twitter.

Forward Looking Statements and Use of Digital Media

This press release includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties relating to future events and the future performance of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Regeneron” or the “Company”), and actual events or results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Words such as “anticipate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “seek,” “estimate,” variations of such words, and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These statements concern, and these risks and uncertainties include, among others, the impact of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that has caused the COVID-19 pandemic) on Regeneron’s business and its employees, collaborators, and suppliers and other third parties on which Regeneron relies, Regeneron’s and its collaborators’ ability to continue to conduct research and clinical programs, Regeneron’s ability to manage its supply chain, net product sales of products marketed or otherwise commercialized by Regeneron and/or its collaborators (collectively, “Regeneron’s Products”), and the global economy; the nature, timing, and possible success and therapeutic applications of Regeneron’s Products and product candidates being developed by Regeneron and/or its collaborators (collectively, “Regeneron’s Product Candidates”) and research and clinical programs now underway or planned, including without limitation the research and development programs to research, develop, and commercialize small molecule compounds directed against the GPR75 target contemplated under the collaboration discussed in this press release; the extent to which the results from the research and development programs conducted by Regeneron and/or its collaborators (including based on the collaboration discussed in this press release) may be replicated in other studies and/or lead to advancement of product candidates to clinical trials, therapeutic applications, or regulatory approval; the potential for any license, collaboration, or supply agreement, including Regeneron’s agreements with Sanofi, Bayer, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (or their respective affiliated companies, as applicable), as well as Regeneron’s collaboration with AstraZeneca discussed in this press release, to be cancelled or terminated; the likelihood, timing, and scope of possible regulatory approval and commercial launch of Regeneron’s Product Candidates and new indications for Regeneron’s Products; uncertainty of the utilization, market acceptance, and commercial success of Regeneron’s Products and Regeneron’s Product Candidates, including the impact of recommendations, guidelines, or studies (whether conducted by Regeneron or others and whether mandated or voluntary) on any of the foregoing or any potential regulatory approval of Regeneron’s Products and Regeneron’s Product Candidates; the ability of Regeneron’s collaborators, suppliers, or other third parties (as applicable) to perform manufacturing, filling, finishing, packaging, labeling, distribution, and other steps related to Regeneron’s Products and Regeneron’s Product Candidates and the impact of the foregoing on Regeneron’s ability to supply Regeneron’s Products and Regeneron’s Product Candidates; the ability of Regeneron to manage supply chains for multiple products and product candidates; safety issues resulting from the administration of Regeneron’s Products and Regeneron’s Product Candidates in patients, including serious complications or side effects in connection with the use of Regeneron’s Products and Regeneron’s Product Candidates in clinical trials; determinations by regulatory and administrative governmental authorities which may delay or restrict Regeneron’s ability to continue to develop or commercialize Regeneron’s Products and Regeneron’s Product Candidates; ongoing regulatory obligations and oversight impacting Regeneron’s Products, research and clinical programs, and business, including those relating to patient privacy; the availability and extent of reimbursement of Regeneron’s Products from third-party payers, including private payer healthcare and insurance programs, health maintenance organizations, pharmacy benefit management companies, and government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid; coverage and reimbursement determinations by such payers and new policies and procedures adopted by such payers; competing drugs and product candidates that may be superior to, or more cost effective than, Regeneron’s Products and Regeneron’s Product Candidates; unanticipated expenses; the costs of developing, producing, and selling products; the ability of Regeneron to meet any of its financial projections or guidance and changes to the assumptions underlying those projections or guidance; and risks associated with intellectual property of other parties and pending or future litigation relating thereto (including without limitation the patent litigation and other related proceedings relating to EYLEA^® (aflibercept) Injection, Dupixent^® (dupilumab), Praluent^® (alirocumab), and REGEN-COV^TM (casirivimab and imdevimab)), other litigation and other proceedings and government investigations relating to the Company and/or its operations, the ultimate outcome of any such proceedings and investigations, and the impact any of the foregoing may have on Regeneron’s business, prospects, operating results, and financial condition. A more complete description of these and other material risks can be found in Regeneron’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and its Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2021. Any forward-looking statements are made based on management’s current beliefs and judgment, and the reader is cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statements made by Regeneron. Regeneron does not undertake any obligation to update (publicly or otherwise) any forward-looking statement, including without limitation any financial projection or guidance, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Regeneron uses its media and investor relations website and social media outlets to publish important information about the Company, including information that may be deemed material to investors. Financial and other information about Regeneron is routinely posted and is accessible on Regeneron’s media and investor relations website
(

http://newsroom.regeneron.com

)
and its Twitter feed
(

http://twitter.com/regeneron

).

Media Contact:

Alexandra Bowie

Tel: +1 (202) 213-1643
[email protected]

Investors:

Vesna Tosic

Tel:  +1 (914) 847-5443
[email protected] 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/regeneron-and-astrazeneca-to-research-develop-and-commercialize-new-small-molecule-medicines-for-obesity-301341168.html

SOURCE Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

MINNEAPOLIS, July 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: TECH) today announced the expansion of the Advanced Cell Diagnostics (ACD), a Bio-Techne brand, RNAscope in situ hybridization technology portfolio with the release of new RNAscope HiPlex V2 assay for formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) and fixed and fresh frozen samples for up to 12 targets. RNAscope is a proven and well characterized technology, with over 4400 peer reviewed publications.  The addition of HiPlex V2 advances the field of spatial genomics and ACD’s positioning in this rapidly growing field.

Bio-Techne developed the RNAscope HiPlex V2 assay to enable deeper understanding of vital gene expression patterns at a single cell resolution, enabling researchers to generate precise gene expression data from 12 targets in FFPE samples and up to 48 targets in fresh and fixed frozen sample types. HiPlex V2 enables direct visualization of the transcript and eliminates the need for difficult bioinformatics methods for analyzing and interpreting scRNA-seq data. It also provides accurate and reliable data with a simple workflow, making it the assay of choice for translational research and biomarker discovery.

The RNAscope HiPlex V2 assay is ideal for the identification of genes that are differentially expressed in distinct cell populations and for providing insights into cellular organization and function of diverse cell types in healthy and disease states. HiPlex assays offer a powerful and efficient plexing tool for validation and visualization of multiple targets, can be performed on commonly available laboratory equipment and are customizable with either the vast catalog of RNAscope probes or custom probes for any target.

“As the spatial genomics and transcriptomic markets grow, there is increasing demand for morphological confirmation of gene expression in routinely available FFPE tissues,” said Kim Kelderman, President of Bio-Techne’s Diagnostics and Genomics Segment. “The HiPlex V2 assay provides researchers with a highly-customizable, multiplexing tool to interrogate complex tissues and orthogonally validate sequencing based transcriptomic data sets to spatially map and visualize gene expression while retaining tissue morphology.”

The RNAscope HiPlex v2.0 Assay kits from Bio-Techne are intended for Research Use Only.
To learn more, visit: https://acdbio.com/rnascope-hiplex-assays

About Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: TECH)

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SOURCE Bio-Techne Corporation

DENVER, July 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Farmland Partners Inc. (NYSE: FPI) (the “Company”) today announced that it purchased 182 acres of cropland in Northern Florida for total consideration of $1 million. This highly improved property consists of 160 irrigated, tillable acres. The farm is located close to the Suwannee River and contains 2 center pivot irrigation systems for overhead irrigation during the growing seasons.  The farm will be leased for the next several years at a current yield of approximately 5%.

“We are pleased to add this high-quality farm to the portfolio and expand our presence in the Southeast region,” said Paul A. Pittman, the Company’s Chairman and CEO.  “Farms like this one, with an abundance of irrigation water, that offer the ability to grow row crops, specialty crops, and the ability to raise cattle during off seasons are very attractive as long-term investments.”

About Farmland Partners Inc.

Farmland Partners Inc. is an internally managed real estate company that owns and seeks to acquire high-quality North American farmland and makes loans to farmers secured by farm real estate. As of the date of this release, the Company owns and/or manages approximately 161,000 acres in 16 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota and Virginia. We have approximately 26 crop types and over 100 tenants. The Company elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, commencing with the taxable year ended December 31, 2014.  Additional information: www.farmlandpartners.com or (720) 452-3100.

Owners and brokers with farmland for sale in the Southeast region, please contact Bennett Williford ([email protected]). 

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including, without limitation, statements with respect to our outlook, proposed and pending acquisitions and dispositions, the potential impact of trade disputes and recent extreme weather events on the Company’s results, financing activities, crop yields and prices and anticipated rental rates. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates” or similar expressions or their negatives, as well as statements in future tense. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, beliefs and expectations, such forward-looking statements are not predictions of future events or guarantees of future performance and our actual results could differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Some factors that might cause such a difference include the following: general volatility of the capital markets and the market price of the Company’s common stock or Series B participating preferred stock, changes in the Company’s business strategy, availability, terms and deployment of capital, the Company’s ability to refinance existing indebtedness at or prior to maturity on favorable terms, or at all, availability of qualified personnel, changes in the Company’s industry, interest rates or the general economy, adverse developments related to crop yields or crop prices, the degree and nature of the Company’s competition, the timing, price or amount of repurchases, if any, under the Company’s share repurchase program, the ability to consummate acquisitions or dispositions under contract and the other factors described in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, and the Company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Any forward-looking information presented herein is made only as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect changes in assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events, or otherwise.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/farmland-partners-inc-acquires-182-acres-of-florida-farmland-for-1-million-301341684.html

SOURCE Farmland Partners Inc.